The present invention relates to a machine for cutting forage and having means for conditioning forage harvested by the machine. The term "conditioning" is used in the agricultural field to indicate an operation by means of which the process of drying the forage in the field is both accelerated and made more uniform. This operation consists in crushing and bending the stalks and the coarser parts of the forage which tend to take longer to dry than the leaves.
In particular, the present invention relates to a machine of the type including a frame, a cutter platform provided with a cutter bar and a pair of counter-rotating transverse rolls for conditioning the cut product by crushing it between them. The cutter platform is carried on two pairs of side arms, which connect the cutter platform to the main frame of the machine. Each pair of side arms comprises an upper arm and a lower arm, the arms all being pivoted at one end to the cutter platform and at the other end to the main frame of the machine.
In machines of this type it is very important, in order that the conditioning can be effected efficiently, for the transverse dimension of the conditioner rolls to be as close as possible to that of the cutter bar; since the rolls must be behind the cutter bar their transverse dimension is limited by the width of the frame of the machine, particularly that part of the machine which carries the front wheels. Thus although the length of the conditioner rolls should be as long as possible this requirement is limited by the fact that the position of the rolls places constraints on the greatest length which can be accommodated, particularly since in operation of the machine it is necessary to be able to raise and lower the cutter platform on which the conditioner rolls are carried and during the movement of the cutter platform it is essential that the conditioner rolls do not foul against the frame of the machine and in particular with the parts of the frame which carry the front wheels.